Furloughs to curtail F-35 flight testing -US Navy official

July 08, 2013|Reuters

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - Flight testing of LockheedMartin Corp's new F-35 fighter jet will fall short ofplanned totals for the year due to budget cuts that will keepthe Pentagon's civilian workers off their jobs one day each weekfor the rest of the fiscal year, a top U.S. Navy official toldReuters on Monday.

"It's going to fall short because we're going to lose a daya week, roughly," Sean Stackley, assistant Navy secretary forresearch, development and acquisition, said in an interview.

Stackley said the Pentagon's F-35 program office was tryingto mitigate the impact of the furloughs on flight testing of thenew jet but it was not yet clear how many overtime and weekendhours could be used to offset other missed workdays.